David Batty

I've spoken to around 100 adoptees.

And I was very struck by how similar the experience was.

Obviously, you know, a very different range of different families and times and experiences, but a lot of similarities in terms of.

Having that very mixed feeling about meeting a birth parent, which has taken you aback and dealing with their trauma as well as your own trauma and how to navigate that and bond without it being trauma bonding and the lack of support I have had.

well over 200 texts, emails, messages, the vast majority of which are from other adoptees.

Since I published my story.

But also adoptive parents, the children of adopted people, siblings of adopted people.

Some of them have just gone, thank you.

Others have been pages and pages just pouring out

what their experience has been, and also just how validating it feels to finally have somebody sort of say this publicly in the media.

It has been a really gruelling few months.

And, you know, I don't think it's really an exaggeration to say that, yes, it has been cathartic, but probably it almost emotionally destroyed me writing it.

I recall one study that said adopted teenagers and young adults I think were twice as likely as the general population to experience mood disorders like anxiety and depression or to be admitted to mental health services.

And I think another study found that

that young adoptees were four times more likely to attempt suicide.

So that is just an absolutely astounding figure.

I sort of looked at that and was just absolutely horrified.

And it does put Susan's experience...

my own experience, the experiences of lots of other adoptees into this terrifying context.

There needs to be freely available therapy for both the adoptive adult, and we're talking about reunion here, the adoptive adult and the birth parent.